YSAYE QUARTET

Guillaume Sutre (violin), Luc-Marie Aguera (violin), Miguel Da Silva (viola), Francois Salque (cello)

Formed in l984 while its members were still students at the Paris Conservatoire, the Ysaÿe Quartet is named after the violinist and composer Eugene Ysaÿe (1858-1931), who was a powerful influence on the musical world of his day. The Ysaÿe captured international attention when it became the first French quartet ever to win the Grand Prize at the Evian (now Bordeaux) International String Quartet Competition in 1988. An extraordinary 1989 debut at the Salzburg Festival resulted in immediate re-engagement for the following summer, and in January l992, the ensemble established itself as one of Europe's pre-eminent ensembles with highly acclaimed cycles of the six Mozart quartets dedicated to Haydn in both Salzburg and Vienna.

Since then, the Quartet has been invited to play throughout the world. It has performed in Japan (including Suntory Hall in Tokyo), the United States (including Carnegie Hall), Hong Kong, China, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Central America, Israel and throughout Europe, including the Théâtre de la Ville and Théâtre des Champs Elysées in Paris, Wigmore Hall in London, the Brahmssaal in Vienna, the Philharmonie in Berlin and at the Salzburg, Stresa, Cheltenham, and Lockenhaus Festivals.

In the 2001-2002 season, the Ysaÿe toured Australia, New Zealand, Portugal, Germany and the United States as well as concertizing throughout France. Highlights of the current season include concerts at the Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore Hall in London, and the Louvre in Paris. The Quartet also continues its Haydn quartet cycle in Besançon, tours Sicily and Israel, and performs extensively in Europe.

On its debut tour of North America in 1990, the Ysaÿe Quartet won accolades from audiences and critics in l5 cities across the continent, including New York, Chicago, St. Louis, Vancouver and Los Angeles. Eight other American tours have taken the Quartet to more than forty different cities, recently including Boston, Washington, San Diego, Memphis, New Orleans, Pittsburgh and Los Angeles. Its tour in the fall of 2002 includes a series of concerts with the Paris Piano Trio, featuring the Chausson Concert for piano, violin and string quartet.

The Ysaÿe Quartet has recorded on the Harmonia Mundi, Philips and Decca labels, including, for Decca, the complete works for string quartet by Félix Mendelssohn, and the piano quartets and quintets of Gabriel Fauré with their compatriot Pascal Rogé. The members of the Quartet are on the faculty of the Conservatoire Supérieur de Musique de Paris, where they have established a special class for string quartets.

Instruments:

• Violin I: C. Tononi (Venice, 1727) 

• Violin II: S. Scarampella (Mantua, circa 1900) 

• Viola: L. Storioni (Cremona, 1790) 

• Cello: Anonymous (Northern Italy, 18th century)

For more information about the Ysaye Quartet,
please visit their web site at www.ysayequartet.com.